An announcement made on Friday, June 9, hints Hong Kong is now inching closer to the rollout of its own Central Bank Digital Currency.
According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, one of the primary regulators in charge of tracking decentralized assets in the location, it will now start ‘laying foundation’ for the CBDC.
On the same day, India announced plans to hit 1 million subscribers for its Digital Rupee by the end of June.
Dubbed as ‘e-HKD,’ the digital version of Hong Kong Dollar is expected to be a significant player in the region’s evolution towards a fully-digital economy. As of this writing, Hong Kong citizens remain heavily reliant on cash-based systems for payment settlements.
The discussion for the e-HKD has been going on since 2017 but has trudged since Beijing’s crackdown against digital assets in 2021.
In a report published by CoinDesk in April, sources revealed that the new innovation might be implemented in a permissioned blockchain. In this case, the government will allow private banks to facilitate the full implementation.
Hong Kong has been positioning itself to be the next crypto hub in Asia. It has recently introduced legislation that will allow citizens to directly invest into virtual assets, CoinDesk shares.
Its recent advance in CBDC adoption coincides with this vision. According to CoinGape, Hong Kong is now set to explore more on the implementation and practical application of its planned retail CBDC.
Prior to this, it had already completed two rounds of market consultation for the e-HKD. This has potentially convinced the authorities to start the groundwork for the foundation of Hong Kong’s official digital currency.
The government did not provide schedule details on the official pilot testing for the e-HKD.
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